Hirdetés
Fishermen fishing on Lake Victoria will soon have a chance of calling for help by using their mobiles in case they get in trouble. Zain and Ericsson are upgrading Celtel's existing infrastructure and building an additional 21 radio sites to provide mobile coverage up to 20 kilometers into the lake. This will take about six months and ensure mobile coverage to over 90 percent of the fishing zones, where up to 5,000 people die each year from accidents and piracy.
The project will use Ericsson's Extended Range software package to more than double the effective range of radio base stations and Ericsson's Mobile Position System, a location-based service that enables emergency authorities to triangulate the mobile signal of fishermen in distress. Ericsson's green site solutions, including solar and hybrid power solutions, will also be utilized to provide electric power to the base stations in the more remote island areas.
The GSMA and Zain are working with the governments in the region and not-for-profit groups to establish a rescue coordination service to provide assistance to lake users, which in the longer term will be run by the EAC's planned Regional Maritime Communications Centre (RMCC). This initiative is helping to fulfill the objectives of the EAC Lake Victoria communications strategy, which was adopted in 2007.
Ericsson, Zain and the GSMA's Development Fund have spent the past six months investigating how to provide better communications for the 30 million people in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda who live in the immediate vicinity of the lake. The move to extend the region's mobile network reflects the companies' commitment to corporate responsibility and to improving lives through communication, and is supported by a solid business case based on increased subscriber numbers and a higher volume of data traffic, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the project.
Zain also plans to provide value-added services, such as up-to-the-minute market prices, which will have a significant impact on local people's livelihoods. Academic research in India found that using mobile phones can significantly boost fishermen's earnings by enabling them to find the best prices for their catch. The availability of mobile services is also expected to benefit the tourism, transportation and fish export industries and could be key to attracting further business development in the region.
Translated by Szaszati
